MAME (an
acronym of
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is an
emulator application designed to recreate the hardware of
arcade game systems in
software on modern personal computers and other platforms. The intention is to preserve gaming history by preventing vintage games from being lost or forgotten. The aim of MAME is to be a reference to the inner workings of the emulated arcade machines; the ability to actually play the games is considered "a nice side effect".
Joystiq has listed MAME as an application that every gamer should have.